Verses

'The Coliseum'
Edgar Allen Poe
1833

Type of the antique Rome! Rich reliquary
Of lofty contemplation left to Time
By buried centuries of pomp and power!
At length- at length- after so many days
Of weary pilgrimage and burning thirst,
(Thirst for the springs of lore that in thee lie,)
I kneel, an altered and an humble man,
Amid thy shadows, and so drink within
My very soul thy grandeur, gloom, and glory!

Vastness! and Age! and Memories of Eld!
Silence! and Desolation! and dim Night!
I feel ye now- I feel ye in your strength-
O spells more sure than e'er Judaean king
Taught in the gardens of Gethsemane!
O charms more potent than the rapt Chaldee
Ever drew down from out the quiet stars!

Here, where a hero fell, a column falls!
Here, where the mimic eagle glared in gold,
A midnight vigil holds the swarthy bat!
Here, where the dames of Rome their gilded hair
Waved to the wind, now wave the reed and thistle!
Here, where on golden throne the monarch lolled,
Glides, spectre-like, unto his marble home,
Lit by the wan light of the horned moon,
The swift and silent lizard of the stones!

But stay! these walls- these ivy-clad arcades-
These moldering plinths- these sad and blackened shafts-
These vague entablatures- this crumbling frieze-
These shattered cornices- this wreck- this ruin-
These stones- alas! these grey stones- are they all-
All of the famed, and the colossal left
By the corrosive Hours to Fate and me?

"Not all"- the Echoes answer me- "not all!
Prophetic sounds and loud, arise forever
From us, and from all Ruin, unto the wise,
As melody from Memnon to the Sun.
We rule the hearts of mightiest men- we rule
With a despotic sway all giant minds.
We are not impotent- we pallid stones.
Not all our power is gone- not all our fame-
Not all the magic of our high renown-
Not all the wonder that encircles us-
Not all the mysteries that in us lie-
Not all the memories that hang upon
And cling around about us as a garment,
Clothing us in a robe of more than glory."

Gorgeous Google search.

Love in this Club

Augustus Caesar.

Excerpt from Catholic Dictionary Definition of "Rococo"

The Rococo style accords very ill with the solemn office of the monstrance, the tabernacle, and the altar, and even of the pulpit.

Trompe L'oeil Entertainments!

Wall Painting
c. 70 A.D.
Villa dei Misteri, Pompeii

Having already visited the Gotti family manse today, I thought it only fitting to address the root of their decorative goods and evils--the Roman house. Long ago, in eighth grade Latin class, Pillow and I salivated over these spaces. We too wanted atriums and household gods and stalwart Roman husbands named Longinus or Julius or Cato. At present, I am most sruck by the urge to fill one's walls with figures. A woman (slave?) holding a platter of fish meets our gaze. The others consider fabric, read poetry, hold documents, contracts? This is such a varied, strange, urbane little scene. It was made only a few years before the erruption of Vesuvius, and is, thus, brilliantly preserved. The positively erotic colors (and this is where the Gottis come in) were likely meant to express wealth and consequence, as, I'm sure, were the bizarre gestures of the sitters. They are also (and this may be pretty dippy) the shades of the South, of the heated and cooked. The image is so present and vivid--what a thing, to live among its players! Click to enlarge and study. Valete citizens!